Chris Henderson has been a cornerstone of Inter Miami’s success in recent years, which was why it was a shock when the sporting director left for Atlanta United earlier this month.
Have built a team that won the Supporters’ Shield by setting a MLS regular-season points record, Henderson left Inter Miami to join Atlanta as their sporting director, the same side that eliminated the Herons from the play-offs.
Yet with Inter Miami earlier this year appointing former Arsenal and FC Barcelona transfer chief Raul Sanllehi, Henderson’s departure is perhaps not the biggest surprise, even with the sporting director having a steller reputation in MLS.
And Henderson has now shared what he thinks of Inter Miami having left for Atlanta.
Henderson says he’s left Inter Miami with ‘an incredible team’
Speaking to the Athletic, Henderson says he is pleased with the work he has done at Inter Miami, with the soccer chief admitting that he feels the Herons are now ‘an incredible team’, in large part due to the work the sporting director did in Florida.
Whilst not the main driving force, Henderson played his part in Lionel Messi coming to Inter Miami, with the transfer expert tasked with building a squad that could facilitate the Argentine international and lead the Herons to glory.
And Henderson did just that, with the Atlanta official seemingly proud of what he managed to achieve with Inter Miami despite some notable low points at the start of his career with the Chase Stadium side.
Henderson said: ”I feel like there was a big evolution at Miami from when I came in to when I left. And obviously I dealt with a lot of things the first three years that were, you know, unexpected when I came in, but I look at where it is now and that team is an incredible team.”
Where do Inter Miami now go after surprise backroom change?
Henderson’s departure was a surprise to many fans given how long the sporting director has spent at Inter Miami and how much work the former Seattle Sounders official put into building one of the best sides in MLS.
And for Inter Miami, commonsense would dictate that the direction they now head in is to let Sanllehi take reigns of the transfer business heading into January, with the Herons seemingly having some big plans in the pipeline.
Neymar remains a target for Inter Miami whilst Javier Mascherano is keen on signing Angel Di Maria, with the Florida franchise set to undergo a huge squad overhaul heading into the 2025 MLS season.